'Jews go back to Palestine' the graffiti in 1930s Lithuania urged, so Amos Oz's family, and many like them, went.Then later the walls of Europe shouted 'Jews get out of Palestine'.Prize-winning Israeli author Amos Oz's story of his childhood and adolescence in war-torn Jerusalem from the 1930s to the 1950s is also the story of the birth of Israel itself.

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The Klausner family's arrival in Palestine in 1933 creates as many problems as it solves, but at least they are home.They have left behind their roots in central Europe, their home for generations.

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Eight year old Amos is taken to a reception in an Arab house, where his attempts to forge meaningful links between the two peoples end in disaster.

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On 29th November 1947 the UN General Assembly met to vote on the proposal for the establishment of the state of Israel.The vote took place at midnight, Jerusalem time, and everyone was out in the street, waiting for the result, including young Amos Oz.

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The establishment of the state of Israel heralds a whole new set of problems for the Jewish people, and Amos has more than his fair share.